Do I ship it?

Games › Survival › Survival + Dungeon Crawler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dungeon Crawler Survival game?

Survival + Dungeon Crawler

Of 151 developers who shipped a Dungeon Crawler Survival game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 280 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $960, ×1.5 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $820k, ×1315 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 280 games are announced against 98 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 280 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Dungeon Crawler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 151
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.5k → $1.9k → $1.3k → $2.0k → $898 → $2.2k → $539 (still earning) → $1.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Dungeon Crawler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 151
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $959 (exactly $959)
Top 25% $7.8k (exactly $7,821)
Top 5% $826k (exactly $825,714)
Developers, 2 yr 151
Released games 416
Announced 280
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue down 25% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Survival
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Dungeon Crawler
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Survival, Dungeon Crawler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 70% positive over 41,803 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $960, 1 in 4 over $7.8k, 1 in 20 over $820k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 60 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 280 games are announced against 98 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds14 devs · median $74k · 10 announced
  2. + Social DeductionFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  3. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  4. + CatsFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 34 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair77 devs · median $1.0k · 84 announced
  6. + IdlerFair96 devs · median $836 · 99 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair79 devs · median $807 · 90 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair101 devs · median $599 · 130 announced
  9. + DogsFair20 devs · median $535 · 19 announced
  10. + Martial ArtsLong shot19 devs · median $419 · 17 announced
  11. + Boomer ShooterLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced

All 234 pairs on the Survival page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Stoneshard 2020 · EA · $26M Ni no Kuni™ II: Revenant Kingdom 2018 · $15M Mistfall Hunter 2026 · $12M Portal Knights 2017 · $10M The Binding of Isaac 2011 · $7.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Stoneshard · EA older $24.99 34,149 74% 1.0M $26M (exactly $25,601,505) Ink Stains Games
Ni no Kuni™ II: Revenant Kingdom older $59.99 8,100 82% 243k $15M (exactly $14,577,570) LEVEL5 Inc.
Mistfall Hunter $24.99 16,045 53% 481k $12M (exactly $12,028,936) Bellring Games
Portal Knights older $19.99 16,885 83% 507k $10M (exactly $10,125,934) Keen Games GmbH
The Binding of Isaac older $4.99 49,208 94% 1.5M $7.4M (exactly $7,366,438) Edmund McMillen, Florian Himsl
Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness older $59.99 2,650 79% 80k $4.8M (exactly $4,769,205) Chime Corporation
Len's Island $24.99 5,935 82% 178k $4.4M (exactly $4,449,470) Flow Studio
Dungeon of the ENDLESS™ older $11.99 9,419 87% 283k $3.4M (exactly $3,388,014) AMPLITUDE Studios
Dead Age older $14.99 4,407 83% 132k $2.0M (exactly $1,981,828) Silent Dreams
Romestead · EA $13.99 4,660 76% 140k $2.0M (exactly $1,955,802) Beartwigs
Three Kingdoms Mushouden $24.99 1,876 72% 56k $1.4M (exactly $1,406,437) NanBei Studio
How Many Dudes? $14.99 2,948 89% 88k $1.3M (exactly $1,325,716) Butterscotch Shenanigans
Pathogenic $9.99 4,145 92% 124k $1.2M (exactly $1,242,256) Aberrant Labs
Dungeon Settlers · EA $24.99 1,117 79% 34k $837k (exactly $837,415) CanOpener
Return from Core $16.99 1,620 75% 49k $826k (exactly $825,714) 顽核社 FuncoreClub
Emissary Zero $8.99 2,683 83% 80k $724k (exactly $723,605) Rone Vine
LET IT DIE: INFERNO $24.99 774 52% 23k $580k (exactly $580,268) SUPERTRICK GAMES, Inc.

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.